Landlord Looks To Cash In On City’s Housing Crisis – By Offering Parked Up Van As A Place To Live For £220 A Month

A cheeky landlord is looking for a tenant willing to pay £220 rent per month – to live in his parked VAN.

The owner of the yellow minibus listed the vehicle on classified adverts website Gumtree today.

Seller ‘Johnny’ claims the van comes with all the facilities required for “winter living” on a street including a fire burner, cooker, oven, sink, double bed and kitchen table.

The monthly rent is quoted at £220 at the top of the ad, although a lower figure of £160 appears further down in the description.

The Gum Tree ad.

According to the advert, the LDV Convoy van is parked in High Street, Easton, Bristol, and will be available to move into on November 1.

Photographs show that it is parked in a narrow residential street, with two wheels on the pavement, next to a traffic calming measure where the road narrows.

Gumtree user Johnny seems to be looking to cash in on a growing trend in Bristol of scores of people who have resorted to living in vans on the street in the face of the city’s housing crisis.

For the past year, as many as 35 vans, caravans, horse boxes and other large lived-in vehicles have been parked around Greenbank Cemetery in Easton – just half a mile from where Johnny’s van is parked.

A general view of caravans and vans in which people are living in on Bristol streets.

The so-called ‘van dwellers’ are taking advantage of a legal loophole, which says authorities can do nothing to move them on as long as their vehicle is MOT’d and taxed.

A spokesperson for Bristol City Council said last week: “We are aware of a growing trend of people who are turning to living in vans or caravans on our streets in Bristol.

“We realise that this trend is having an impact on other residents around the city, however the council is restricted in how it can respond.

“Without parking restrictions, we are limited by national law in what we can do to enforce moving these kind of vans which are parked legally.

“This kind of enforcement would in any case not help to combat the longer term causes of this national problem.

“We are looking at a number of short-term solutions to address this problem, combating the impact on local residents, and providing more security for the van dwellers.

“For some people, the long term solution may be finding affordable housing, and we are continuing to work hard to build more houses across the city.”

Jess is a writer at the UK's largest independent press agency SWNS. She runs women's real-life magazine Real-Fix.com, as well as contributing articles and features to all of the major titles and digital publications.